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Sseko to make lives better

This time I have wonderful news for you. I have a great interview! I do love beautiful and unique clothes but what I do love even more is when clothes I think of are also made by a fine company. It is not a brand I'm talking about now - I'm talking about companies which better than companies, ones with heart and soul. Sseko is one of those companies, company you feel proud wearing. No matter if you heard of them or not this interview would be very interesting for you.

1. Before we get serious what does the term Sseko (pronounced “say-ko”) mean?
Enseko is the word for Laughter in Luganda.

2. Sseko designs not only lovely pieces, but products with a social mission in mind. Tell us how this idea came to mind? Was there some turning point?
What Sseko has become is somewhat of an accidental result of blind determination. While living in Uganda (I moved there to pursue journalism) I met a group of incredibly talented and ambitious young women who needed economic opportunity in order to continue on to university and pursue their dreams. I knew I was in a certain place in a certain time and that the story of these women would become a part of my story. I didn’t really care too much about how that would take shape. Almost everything about Sseko was born from necessity. We needed to generate income. We had to do something that 18 year old girls could be a part of for a season and then move on to pursue their goals. We had to create something out of the limited materials available in the East African region. After several other ideas (including a chicken farm!) I was reminded of a pair of funky, strappy sandals I had made a few years earlier. I spent a few weeks scouring the country for the materials we needed and trying to learn everything I could about making footwear. I hired three young women and several weeks later, under a mango tree, a sandal company in East Africa was born!

3. What was the first Sseko piece ever designed?
Sseko Sandals! The base of the sandal is made from genuine leather and has five anchor points. The fabric straps are interchangeable, which means you can style them in hundreds of ways and change your straps as often as you change your mood! They are super comfortable and totally versatile. We don’t know of many other sandals you’d wear walking down the aisle and to the grocery store!

4. What are Sseko’s plans for future?

We’ve got lots of dreams and plans for growth! Our primary focus is on continuing to grow our production and employment capacity in Uganda so that we can empower women through educational and economic opportunities. We’re also excited about continuing to grow our product offerings. We want Sseko to occupy the space between typical ‘fair-trade’ goods (that might have a great story but are lacking in market appeal) and mainstream fashion by making beautiful, high-quality on trend goods that are made in a way that positively impacts both the communities that produce and consume those goods. Eventually, we’d like to replicate the Sseko model in different communities of women around the world and have a global impact. As they say in Uganda, “Slowly, slowly” but we’re dreaming BIG!

5. What is the Sseko philosophy?
The short version: Make beautiful things to provide employment and scholarship opportunities to women pursuing their dreams and overcoming poverty.

6. A little survey for Inside and Outside blog: some say talented kids in fashion usually try to make their toys look better (repainting for example) did you do something like that? And if you did then what?

The initial design of the sandal, like most parts of our story it was a bit of any accident. Years earlier, I had made a pair of sandals out of flip-flop bottoms and some vintage ribbon I had lying around. I loved them because they were kind of funky and super comfortable. Every time I wore them, someone would ask me about them. At the time I just laughed and told them that I made them sitting on the floor of my friend’s apartment one night. Many moons later, while training to brainstorm things we could make in Uganda, a friend who had seen the sandals asked me if those could be something we could make. And the rest is history! You never know how the seemingly insignificant moments in our life can set you on an entirely different trajectory—of course, until they do!

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